Azuki NFT Floor Price Slashed After Elementals Fail

Azuki NFT floor price halves after failed Elementals drop

The past week saw a whirlwind of activity in the NFT space as Chiru Labs' anime-themed Azuki NFT collection launched its sister project, Azuki Elementals. Despite selling out all 20,000 NFTs ($30 million invalue) during the presale in record time, the launch quickly took a contentious turn and experienced a shocking 55% drop in floor prices within 24 hours. Azuki NFTs were worth 17.6 ETH prior to the sale and are now sitting at 8.9 ETH floor.

Despite the initial hype, the Elementals release has faced sharp criticism from the community, many of whom argued that the new NFTs bear an uncanny resemblance to the existing Azuki collection. This 'carbon-copy' effect appears to have backfired, leading to a dump of both the Azuki collection and Elementals, subsequently impacting their prices.

Even the creators of Azuki conceded the lack of distinction, admitting that their ambition led to confusion within the community. The setback underscores the challenges faced by creators in the rapidly evolving NFT space, serving as a reminder that novelty and uniqueness remain pivotal for success.

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Fidelity preparing to file for a Bitcoin ETF

Fidelity is the next big name to be associated with a Bitcoin ETF. Earlier this week, multiple media publications reported on the asset manager powerhouse being on the verge of filing for the illusive exchange-traded fund. 

Citing sources familiar with the matter, these publications stated that the filing could be made public as soon as this week. This would put Fidelity next to BlackRock, WisdomTree, Invesco, VanEck, and Bitwise, all of whom filed for a spot bitcoin ETF with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in recent weeks.

While no ETFs have yet been approved, the recent swathe of positive news sent Bitcoin to new yearly highs. At press time, the digital currency traded at $30,085. 

An ETF is being perceived by the general public as the colloquial rocket fuel that will propel the coin to the stratosphere, as it should enable large institutions, with billions in assets under management, to legally purchase the digital commodity. 

Some investors also speculate that a spot EFT will provide the much-needed counter-balance to BTC futures trading, which first started in 2017 and allowed for significant price suppression. Whether or not an actual ETF does get the approval remains to be seen, as well as if the market perceives it as important or as a non-event.

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Themis Protocol suffers flashloan attack

The DeFi Metaverse platform, Themis Protocol, suffered a cyberattack that resulted in the theft of roughly $370,000. In a Twitter thread posted earlier this week, Themis said that the protocol was exploited by a flashloan attack on the Arbitrum chain, which was made possible due to a flawed oracle. 

The attackers abused the flawed oracle to exfiltrate some 220 Themis-wrapped ETH, but only managed to swap it for roughly 94 ETH and $190,000 in stablecoins. 

The company said law enforcement was notified of the attack, and that it’s working on a compensation plan that should “fully restore” all affected users. “Contract re-audits & analysis are underway,” the announcement reads. “We'll notify everyone when they're done.”

Themis Protocol launched in mid-June and claimed to have grown to $1m TVL in mere days. The protocol has since been paused while the flaw is investigated.

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Sui Foundation clears confusion around selling staking rewards

Sui Foundation, one of the hottest crypto projects of 2023 so far, took to Twitter earlier this week to address speculation that it’s been selling staking rewards. In the short thread, the company said the “gradual growth” of the SUI token supply is something the company communicated from the start, and handled as planned. 

“The market cap as reported by Coinmarketcap has never been exceeded,” the company stated. The Foundation added that it hasn’t sold either the staking rewards, “or any other tokens” from locked and non-circulating staked SUI on Binance, or elsewhere. The fans on Twitter weren’t impressed with the announcement, with some arguing “no airdrop, no community.”

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KuCoin adds mandatory KYC

One of the world’s most popular no KYC cryptocurrency exchanges, which many crypto fans see as the number one place to purchase low-cap “gems”, announced mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) policy for all users. 

In a press release published earlier today, the company said that as of July 15 this year, KYC will be mandatory for everyone. This move, the company claims, was necessary to “embrace global compliance requirements”, create a safer environment for the traders, and improve the overall security of the platform.

New users will be forced to complete KYC to access the company’s “comprehensive suite” of products and services, while existing users will be limited to spot trading sell orders, futures trading deleveraging, margin trading deleveraging, KuCoin Earn redemption, and ETF redemption. They won’t be able to deposit any funds but will be able to withdraw.

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Other breaking news

• EU proposes the Digital Euro
• DYDX to launch public testnet in early July
• More than 23M ETH locked in staking
• ARK Invest updates its BTC spot EFT filing
• Sotheby’s taps into generative AI on the blockchain

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Wrapping Up

That's a wrap, folks! In a roller-coaster ride of a week, Azuki NFTs took a nosedive after a rather contentious launch, while Fidelity's gearing up to jump on the Bitcoin ETF bandwagon. Themis Protocol got stung by a flashloan attack, and KuCoin's playing it safe, mandating KYC for all. Sui Foundation had to put out a Twitter fire over staking rewards, and hey, we might just see a Digital Euro soon! Keep your eyes peeled and cryptowallets ready for more thrilling updates in our next newsletter.